Supporters of Bradley Manning are willing to put their life on the line and serve part of his potential 136-year prison sentence and are urging the military judge in charge of the case to consider this option.
The online petition titled "I Will Proudly Serve
Part of Bradley Manning's Sentence," has gathered more than 2,500
signatures out of 3000 needed to submit it to Major General
Jeffrey S. Buchanan, who will review the sentence of Bradley
Manning once the military judge Colonel Denise Lind makes the
ruling.
The petitioners in their request claim that “If we each
volunteer to serve part of his sentence... it would bring
attention to the amount of time this young man has been sentenced
to and, hopefully reduce his sentence to time served.”
In submitting their signatures, the petitioners must acknowledge that “Bradley Manning provided information to the American people which our own government would not provide. He did us all a favor and, in turn I am willing to serve part of his sentence.”
If such a request is to get accepted by the US authorities, it
would mean that each participant would serve less than a month,
if divided into equal parts.
Petitioners age from young to old. “I am age 68 and propose
that, strictly as a practical matter, volunteers should serve
Bradley's sentence from oldest to youngest. I'd feel privileged
to go first,” one responded posted under the petition.
But most people agree that Manning’s leaks served the public
good. “One day I hope my country won’t engage in the
unwarranted massacre of civilians that was captured in the
footage he released. He did us all a service by releasing that
video,” one post stated.
Manning was convicted on 20 charges on Tuesday including several
violations of the Espionage Act, but was acquitted of aiding the
enemy, the most serious charge. The sentencing phase of Manning's
trial began on Wednesday and is expected to take up to a month.